Spain Government proclaims 'start of recovery'

Source: Xinhua - Sat 21st Sep 2013

Spain's trade deficit fell 67.5% in the first 7 months of this year thanks exports which rose to "a new historic high" of 138.58 billion, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness announced on Friday (yes, apparently somebody takes responsibility for this).

The country's trade deficit totaled 6.61 billion between January and July, which in annual terms meant that the deficit was down by 13.7 billion from the 20.3 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Exports broke a record high as they increased by 7% in the first 7 months of the year to 138.6 billion, the Ministry said. In particular, exports of equipment increased by 15.8% to 29.2 billion.

However, Imports decreased 3.1% to reach 145.2 billion, with energy products - representing 23.5% of the total - falling by 5.6%.

The Ministry emphasized the increasing role of non-EU markets as the recession-hit country rode a boom in exports.

The Spanish government said Spain would start to grow by the end of 2013, pointing to the exports performances as a sign of recovery.